Appalachian Trail Maintenance

Last Revised: January 16, 2008

Index:

On other pages:

	Principles to define the appearance of the A.T.
	Trailhead locations
	General instructions to maintenance team leaders
	Maintenance Report form
	Coweeta dips, waterbars, and sidehill profiles
	Drainage guidelines
	Drainage workshop
	Rock and log step construction
	Schedule of A.T. maintenance trips
	Trail maintenance and construction tasks
	Trail blazing and marking
	Weed problems areas
	Annual woody growth clearing
	Trail Team Work Trips: The Essential Element

General Information

TEHCC maintains the Appalachian Trail and side trails between Spivey Gap, North Carolina and Damascus, Virginia. ANYONE can be a trail maintainer - you don't need to be a an Eastman employee to help out. We need and welcome your help !! TEHCC has several trail maintenance programs in place:

Regular Maintenance
A maintenance team is assigned to each section of TEHCC's portion of the A.T. Each year, teams are rotated, so over 20 years, each team will have maintained the entire TEHCC section of the A.T. Each team maintains its section at least twice a year, to remove blowdowns, repaint blazes, clip annual growth, pick up litter, and replace missing or vandalized signs.

Third Saturdays
The third Saturday of each month is dedicated to special projects, which has included trail relocations, shelter repair and renovations, and bridge construction.

Adopt-A-Trail
Groups and individuals can "adopt" sections of the A.T. to maintain. Unlike regular maintenance teams, adopters are assigned to a section of their choice for as many years as they care to maintain it.

Konnarock Crew
The Konnarock Crew helps TEHCC with major trail relocations and other major projects. The Konnarock Crew is a volunteer trail crew, supported by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and the U.S. Forest Service.

Hiker-Trail Volunteers

"Hiker-trail volunteers" (thru-hikers and long-distance hikers) take a few hours off from their hikes to help maintain our section of the A.T. These volunteers are always welcome and very much appreciated. A hiker-trail volunteer who works on the Trail for eight hours or more under the supervision of a TEHCC maintainer will be entitled to receive one (shown at left).

The six color fabric patch was originally designed in 1999 by thru-hiker Marty Allen ("The Artist"), and lettered by thru-hiker Sara Allen ("Rosey"). The patch depicts a crossed crosscut saw and mattock.

Maintainer Patches

TEHCC awards patches to A.T. maintainers and adopters, based on the the number of hours worked as reported using the A.T. Maintenance Reporting Form. Patches are awarded for 50 hours, 100 hours, 250 hours, 500 hours, 1000 hours, and multiples of 1000 hours. The appropriate number of hours are added to the patch template shown here. When the next level of A.T. maintenance is achieved, a new patch is awarded. The patch depicts two crossed pulaskis.

Need more information?
To volunteer to be a trail maintainer or adopter, send an e-mail to our A.T. Maintenance Chair at .

Summary of A.T. Maintenance

			Watauga Ranger District			Unaka Ranger District			Totals
Year	TEHCC Total Hours	Adopt -A -Trail	Regular Maintenance Hours	Special Projects Hours	Total Hours	Regular Maintenance Hours	Special Projects Hours	Total Hours	Regular Maintenance Hours	Special Projects Hours	Events	People -Events	People	Additional Help (Konnarock etc.)
1991	3,755
1992	3,995		868	1,368	2,236	895	864	1,759	1,763		127	477	129
1993	7,457	1,239	816	1,693	2,509	1,644	3,304	4,948	2,460	4,997	262	986	196
1994	6,779	1,457	1,130	983	2,113	1,962	2,704	4,666	3,092	3,687	219	912	250
1995	5,857	1,190	612	1,135	1,747	1,381	2,729	4,110	1,993	3,864	226	767	157
1996	5,638	1,038	532	869	1,401	1,343	2,894	4,237	1,875	3,763	195	731	147
1997	6,835	1,293	894	610	1,504	1,741	3,590	5,331	2,635	4,200	228	875	146	3,760
1998	6,880	1,841	640	2,976	3,616	1,406	1,858	3,264	2,046	4,834	243	920	211	1,280
1999	8,069	1,664	1,096	2,143	3,239	1,402	3,428	4,830	2,498	5,571	250	1,076	269
2000	8,332	1,044	765	1,751	2,516	1,173	4,643	5,816	1,938	6,394	210	1,072	384
2001	10,943	1,251	970	4,746	5,716	1,162	4,065	5,227	2,132	8,811	267	1,443	474
2002	10,284	1,010	626	6,234	6,860	699	2,725	3,424	1,325	8,959	249	1,333	314
2003	10,536	825	484	6,492	6,976	428	3,132	3,560	912	9,624	209	1,552	491
2004	9,884	1,867	891	4,954	5,845	859	3,180	4,039	1,750	8,134	222	1,264	431
2005	9,595	1,419	1,178	4,858	6,036	970	2,589	3,559	2,148	7,447	209	1,247	500
2006	11,058	1,275	1,101	4,565	5,666	1,052	4,336	5,388	2,153	8,905	246	1,485	573
2007	11,017	1,307	921	4,061	4,982	1,116	4,919	6,035	2,037	8,980	255	1,458	489

Hours compiled by Jeff Siirola.

A.T. Maintenance Sections

Section	Description (N->S)
1	Damascus - Backbone Rock trail junction
2	Backbone Rock trail junction - Abingdon Gap Shelter
3	Abingdon Gap Shelter - U.S. 421
4	U.S. 421 - Tenn. 91
5	Tenn. 91 - Turkey Pen Gap
6	Turkey Pen Gap - Pond Mountain Wilderness boundary (north)
7	Pond Mountain Wilderness boundary (north) - Watauga Dam Road
8	Watauga Dam Road - U.S. 321
9	U.S. 321 - Hampton Trailhead
10	Hampton trailhead - Dennis Cove Road
11	Dennis Cove Road - Bitter End
12	Bitter End - U.S. 19E
13	U.S. 19E - Hump Mountain
14	Hump Mountain - Carvers Gap
15	Carvers Gap - Hughes Gap
16	Hughes Gap - Iron Mountain Gap
17	Iron Mountain Gap - switchback in USFS 230
18	Switchback in USFS 230 - Indian Grave Gap
19	Indian Grave Gap - Nolichucky River
20	Nolichucky River - Spivey Gap

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